question about the size of my heifer

[donna12345]

Hilda is a 14 month old registered dexter heifer, chondra free. My question is on her size, I haven't measured her but she is probably 32 or 34 inches at shoulder. She seems small to me as five month old dexter calf from other cow is almost the same size. Here are 2 pictures, would like your option. Was hoping to breed her sometime to dexter straw but seems very small and I don't want shorties.

[zephyrhillsusan]

donna12345, I want to be sure I follow you right.  Are you saying that she seems small to breed and you don't want to breed her to a small chondro bull because you don't want chondro-positive calves(shorties)?  Because if I'm understanding you correctly and this IS what you mean, I was under the same illusion when I bred our first heifer--that breeding to a chondro-positive bull--because he was small--would ensure a small calf.  Luckily for us and our heifer, it worked out that way with a 40-lb. calf.  However, just because you would use a chondro-positive bull would not necessarily ensure a small calf.  It would totally depend on the bull's genetics.  The bull we used was very proportional, so the chondro had not affected his size that much.  But even so, a bull's size doesn't necessarily reflect the birth weights of his calves.  What you need to look at is what birth weights the particular bull throws on his calves.  If that information isn't posted on the ADCA AI bull page, you can find out by contacting the owners of the bull you're interested in.

There was just another thread on the Breeding board about this.  I'm giving you a link to it so you can read the helpful input people gave.  People with more experience than me will probably chime in here and give you advice specific to your heifer, but an actual hip height and weight would help. You use a beef tape and put it around the heart girth right behind the front legs. I've been using the "thin" measurement on mine.  If you don't have a measuring stick, put her on level ground (like a driveway or barn floor) next to a wall, if possible.  Get a small level and a yardstick.  Put the yardstick over her hips and use the level to get it level, then mark her height on the wall.  I bought a mini horse measuring stick on Amazon that was very inexpensive and pretty easy to use, has a built-in level.  This one is actually cheaper right now.

I've seen you over on KFC--welcome on here!  I saw you had straws and were trying to get your cow AI'd.  I hope that went well.

[kansasdexters]

Donna,

She is very small and if it was my heifer, I would wait until she was at least 2 years old to breed her at all. Give her a chance to grow a little more. Because she is so small, it may be difficult to find an AI tech that can even work with her to get her bred for her first calf.

You may want to consider breeding her with a yearling bull (that himself was less than 45 lb at birth) after she grows a bit, so that she has her first calf when she is around 3-years old.


Patti

[lakeportfarms]

Donna, you should definitely wait to breed her, and when you do breed her select a low calving weight bull for her first calf. You may want to reconsider a chondro carrier for her first breeding, ours for example has had some calves ( from non-carrier mature cows) in the low 20's for birthweights.
What age was she weaned? And what is your mineral program, worming schedule, and her feed availability and quality over the winter? If she's in with other cows she may have a tough time competing for the available food. I would look at those areas of her nutrition over the next 6 months or so while you prepare to have her bred.

[wvdexters]

I agree, I'd give her some time to grow herself before I'd breed her. In the meantime if you are planning to AI and are looking for a non-chondro bull check into Armstrong of Paradise. We used him this year and are very pleased with the calf, small (approx. 30 lbs) and very vigorous.

[rawlingsdexter]

Hi
This animal looks like one that is what we would call a Persistently Infected (PI) with Pesitvirus, a condition which causes the animal to look malnourished due to the dam being exposed to a virus while in calf.

Personally I would not breed from an animal like this, she would struggle to carry a calf that would be of genetic worth to the breed.

Sorry to be honest. And it is only my opinion

[kansasdexters]

In the United States we can easily test an animal for PI-BVD from an earnotch sample. If the owner of this heifer has a concern about her health, it costs less than $10 to test to find out if she is PI or not. The heifer's "less than ideal" physical appearance is not the test, but it can be the motivation to get a test done.

References:
ahdc.vet.cornell.edu/Sects/NYSCHAP/docs/BVDIntroduction_02-06.pdf
ahdc.vet.cornell.edu/Sects/NYSCHAP/docs/bvdtestnyschap07.pdf
ahdc.vet.cornell.edu/docs/BVD_Testing_Cattle_for_Detection%20of_Persistent_Infection.pdf

[ssrdex]

Rawlingsdexter, your honest opinion is what I would hope for if this were my original post, it's part of how I learn. Thank you

[lonecowhand]

Hi Donna , Time for a follow-up! What did you decide to do with Hilda? Did you have her tested for PI DVD?

[blueboy2]

here is follow up. Hilda will be 2 years old 3-30-15. her heat cycles are very easy to date.So was going to AI her late JAN.


here are pics from today. she is smaller than my 5 yr.old cow.she seems to be same size as almost one yr. old heifer.But i can see through summer she" matured". I have straw from SF Ferdinand. Was hoping to use that.

[carragheendexters]

Hasn't she matured in the last 6 months, she looks so different. She is certainly ready to breed now, it was worth holding her back to mature before getting her in calf. A good decision.

[zephyrhillsusan]

blueboy2@blueboy2She looks like a totally different animal! Great decision to wait to breed her.

I can't comment on the bull choice except to say that it's really confusing to look at the AI sires and how they conform to the Dexter guidelines. The guidelines state that 3 year old bulls should not exceed 44" at the shoulder. Of course we know they keep growing, but how do you compute that with an AI sire that is 47" at the hip at 9 years old? I have NO idea! He looks big, but that doesn't necessarily mean he throws high birth weight calves, either. Hopefully someone on here has some experience with his calving size.

Speaking of different animals, blueboy2, did you buy Hilda from donna12345, or did you change your name?     Anyway, thanks so much for following this up for us all to see.  Wishing you a happy, safe calving!

[blueboy2]

I am one in the same and both of us are computer slow.at log in , it gives choose of sign in.i must have picked one of the other me's. Thanks for helpful input.

[zephyrhillsusan]

Oh, goody, a dual personality is even more fun than my guesses! 

[dexterlady]

OK Blueboy2 or Donna12345, Let me put my 2cents in here since I was in your same situation last year....I had a black cow who had a red heifer....I bought both of them years back....I bred them both to my bull who was a small bull...Black cow had normal size calf, her red daughter had a very small bull calf.... All were Chondro free....I steered him and sold him for beef.( unfortunatley)Bred them both again,same deal except this time the red cow had a very small red heifer....I kept her to see how she would grow...She grew very slow and stayed kinda small....I have since sold her mother and the black cow....Well the red heifer, I named Ribbon....This cow is still my smallest cow...I have bred her twice and the first calf was a very small red heifer....I named her Promise...She was so small I had to hold her over from breeding...She turned two yrs. on Dec. 23rd and i have her in with a young bull...Her dam Ribbon just had a really small heifer again and I will probably have to hold her over....I just took some recent pictures of her but I cannot downloadthem....I have been having computer trouble , so my daughter is fixing my computer....I am using my dinasour computer and can't get the pictures to download on this one!...So this little sweetheart heifer is full of spunk and pushed the bull calves around who are two & ahalf her size.....When the weather gets better,if it does, I am going to take a video of her so you can see how small she is....She does not look sick nor does she act sick...All my animals get their vaccines when they are due so there could not be any chance ( I don't think) that she or Promise could have had PI BVD.....She is growing in width but still short!....Promise is still shorter than any of my cows and her dam Ribbon is our shortest cow....And I was so concerned that maybe she was a Chondro carrier ( she was an obligate), I sent her tail hairs to UCD and had her tested....Test came back negative....AS soon as I will get pics. to show you....